7 Unusual & Common SEO Myths You Can Safely Ignore

There are SO many free tips and tricks online for anything you could possibly want.

And while having access to any answer you want is awesome, it can also be tricky to sort out what’s true.

Especially when it comes to something like SEO, which is often seen as intimidating and is evolving all the time, it can be hard to keep up.

So let me save you the time! I’m tired of these SEO myths and want to debunk them once and for all!

7 SEO Myths You can Stop Believing

Myth #1 | If you can’t get into top result on page 1 of Google, there’s no point in bothering with SEO

Let’s just get the biggest myth out the way first.

Actually, there’s a lot more happening on the first page of the search results than you may realize.

And there’s a big difference between pay per click (PPC) AKA paying for keyword adverts and organic SEO, which is a free and long-term marketing strategy.

Advertisers who pay for keywords are given the “premium” top locations {as long as they keep paying their AdWords fees}.

This fluctuates – some days a keyword might have a couple of adverts and other days, none. Plus, some keywords are more competitive than others – as you can see below, the day I searched “design agency Los Angeles” had very high competition for that phrase, with four adverts being shown.

Thereafter comes the “Local Pack” – the closest businesses to your current location. As you zoom into the map, the businesses listed changes. The Local Pack isn’t always present and depends on what you happen to be searching for.

Under the Local Pack comes directory listings and, sometimes, influencer websites. Again, depending on what you’re searching for, these may or may not be present.

Then the free organic listings start.

Below are two examples of keyword searches:

a highly competitive keyword where location businesses are present, and

a search that produced only two adverts and more organic listings on the first page.

Highly competitive keyword phrase search results with Local Pack

Search results for keyword phrase with medium-level competition

Organic SEO gives 20X the traffic of Pay Per Click

Moz’s recent study of searcher behavior has found that organic SEO (41 – 62%) has more than 20X the traffic opportunity than PPC (2%):

You may think the “No Clicks” are high, but it’s much better to have highly-qualified people landing on your website, as they’re more likely to be your ideal client.

Wondering how long it takes to get results?

Organic SEO can take from 3 – 6 months before you start to see increases in your web traffic, though typically, my clients see results in just 1 – 3 months.

For example, if someone types “ballet school” into the search bar, are they:

Wanting to go to a beginner ballet class or advanced?

Looking for a drop-in dance class on tonight nearby?

A parent looking for classes for their child?

Wanting to check reviews to see where the best ballet school is in their area?

Already, you have lots of potential content ideas where you can match your ideal client and their pressing needs/frustrations/desires with what you offer.

Myth #3 | “My social media doesn’t affect my website ranking”

Yes, it does!

When people share your content on social network platforms, like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, they’re telling search engines that your content is relevant to them – it’s helpful in some way, whether that’s So, make sure you have several ways people can share your content, for example, I use:

The Click to Tweet to create “Tweetables” throughout my copy – a short statement (under 140 characters) which automatically creates Tweets with my Twitter handle, @danielleadairz that you can share to Twitter in one click.

Myth #5 | SEO consultants can get me into the top rankings

Avoid SEO consultants who promise you top “organic” rankings in days– they may use black-hat SEO which will severely damage your rankings.

Myth #6 | Long-tail keywords aren’t as important as short keywords

Long-tail keywordsare vital. They help you attract more of your ideal clients, are less competitive search terms, and mean you can create a wealth of content targeted to your dream customers’ needs, wants, desires, issues, and questions.